Harness-buckle.



. R. B. CARTER. HARNESS BUCKLE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1909.

Patented July 1, 1913;

wwwmx iii srarns raanr RICHARD BAXTER CARTER, OF BLAIR, NEBRASKA,ASSIGNOR TO THE PERFECTION HARNESS AND 'IUG BUCKLE COMPANY, OF BLAIR,NEBRASKA.

HARNESS-BUCKLE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD BAXTER CARTER, acitizen of the United States, re siding at Blair, in the county ofW'ashington and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Harness-Buckles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in harness-buckles in which aninner casing, carrying strap-securing tongues and an outer casing toretain said strap in engagement with said tongues are hinged and lockedtogether; and the objects of my improvements are, first, to produce thelightest possible sheet-metalcase buckle of two parts pivoted togetherand connected to a chape, hame-tug or other anchoring strap; second, toprovide an efficient convenient lock to releasably secure the parts andretain the strap to. be buckled. I attain these objects with others ofminor importance by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1, is an outside or face view of the buckle asapplied closed and locked to a tug of a harness; Fig. 2, an inner-sideview next to the animal; Fig. 3, a central longitudinal section; andFig. 4:, an under edge view of Fig. 1, or a top edge view of Fig. 2.

Throughout these views similar parts are referred to by the samenumerals.

The inner case consists of the oblong plate 2 having the side edgeflanges 3 and 3 stand ing outward from the inner plate and of uniformwidth to gage the thickness of the strapway; these flanges are extendedforwardly beyond the forward end of the inner plate to form the hinginglegs or ears 4: and 4. The outer or face plate 5 is of similar reverseform but wider so that its inwardly standing flanges 6 and 6 embrace andin close the projecting edges of the flanges of the inner plate 2, thetwo parts thus forming a strapway inclosed but open at the. ends. Theflanges 6 and 6 are tapered, narrowed to a rounded point at the back endto avoid an unprotectedprojecting angle liable to distortion in use. Theforward ends of these flanges are extended beyond the for ward end ofthe face-plate to form ears 7 and 7 to match the extending ears 1 and 4:of the inner plate. The chape-bolt or pivotbolt 8 is disposed throughthe perforated ends of these ears as shown and hinges the Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed September 20, 1909.

Patented July 1, 1913.

Serial No. 518,671.

inner and face plates together. Intermediately around this pivot-boltthe rear loop 9 of the haine-tug is disposed. This pivotbolt is disposedcentrally to give astraight direct-line draft on all connected parts sothat the inner side of the buckle with such attached and connected partswill present a smooth surface against the animal. On the longitudinalcenter and toward the forward end of the inner plate the stud-tongue 10is set to project across the inclosed space between the inner and faceplates and through the regular tongue-hole of the in tel-posed inclosedtug 11. A corresponding perforation through the face-plate receives theouter end of the tongue to support it against the draft on the tug.Toward the back end and in longitudinal alinement with the tongue 10 isset a like stud-tongue 12; it is of suificient length to project througha registering perforation in the face plate far enough to have cut inits front side the notch 18 flush with but beyond the face-of the plate.This forms the lip 11 which overhangs the edge of the revolublelatch-plate 15 to lock the buckle closed.

The latch-plate consists of a concentrically pivoted disk disposed onthe face of the face-plate mounted on the riveted pivot-stud 16 so thatits peripheric edge will revolve through the notch 18 when the buckle isclosed. It has the radial arm 17, on each side of the base of which acurved portion of the peripheric edge of the disk is removed to form thecurved notches 18 and 18. Through these notches the lip 1% passes inopening and closing the buckle; for this purpose the latch-plate beingturned to the position indicated by the broken lines 19 in Fig. 1; orturned in the reverse direction to the opposite side of the stud-tongueto pass through the other notch. hen locked the arm is disposedcentrally along the face, as shown in Fig. 1, bringing the notches 18and 18 the farthest possible distances from the engaging lip. Each sideedge of the arm has a small portion bent or struck outward to form theoutwardlyprojecting semi-hemispheric knobs 20 and 20 and thesemi-hemispherical concavities 21 and 21 on the inside of each edge. Theface-plate has the hemispherical knobs or lugs 22 and 22 struck orpunched out on its face and disposed and spaced to engage in theconcavities to retain the arm in the cen v tral locking position shown.The arm springs flatwise outwardly to pass over the knobs 22 and 22 andis retained between the knobs by its resiliency flatwise; the outwardlybent edges serving as finger-holds by which to turn and unlock thelatch-plate. The broken lines 23 and 24L in Fig. 4 indicate thepositions to which the outer and inner hinged portions respectively, ofthe buckle case, are swung apart, after unlocking, to remove or adjustthe tug to a new position. The face-plate 5, is shorter at its forwardend than the inner plate and cut squarely across between the bases ofits hinging ears, making the ears longer, to allow a free out-bend ofthe unstrained tucked end 25 of the tug 11, when the buckle is closedand drawn into alinement, and to swing clear of said outward bend whenthe buckle is opened. The forward end of the inner plate is curved, toform at its sides the forwardly-extol]ded braces 26 and 26, as shown inFig. 2, to support the hinging ears of both plates, when the buckle isassembled, against lateral strain or their liability to be bentflatwise.

By hinging the ears of both outer and inner portions of the buckle onthe same pivot-bolt to which the hame-tug is attached I double thebearings of the bolt in the buckle and support the stud-tongues at bothends directly from said pivot, chape-clip or pivot bolt. This allows theuse of the lightest possible metal for the buckle case parts and stillconserves the greatest possible strength I claim:

1. A harness buckle, comprising an inner channel having flanges ofuniform width to gage the thickness of the strapway and saidflangesextended endwise beyond one end of their connecting plate to formhinging ears, and this end of the connecting plate curved across to formlateral braces to said hinging ears, a reversely disposed wider outerchannel to cover the strapway and inclose and shield the projectingedges of said inner channel flanges, the flanges of said outer channelextended endwise beyond one end of their connecting plate to formhinging ears of greater length paired with and lapped against thehinging ears of said inner channel and these outer flanges reduced inwidth toward the opposite end of their connecting plate to eliminatetheir projecting edges and angles, a stud-tongue disposed on the plateof one channel to pro ect across the strapway and seat in an aperture inthe plate of the opposite channel, suitable locking mechanism torel'easably fasten the channels closed together, and a chape-boltdisposed across through the opposite pairs of cars to hinge the channelstogether and to centrally carry an attaching loop in longitudinalalinement with said strapway.

2. A harness buckle, comprising a sh et metal back-plate having oppositeedges bent outwardly to form integral outstanding side flanges ofuniform width, said flanges extended endwise beyond the end of the plateto form opposite side hinging ears and the end of the plate betweenthese cars curved to extend with the ears and form lateral bracesthereto, a sheetmetal face-plate of the face-plate to form hinging earsof greater length lapped against the hinging ears of the back-plate, andthese flanges reduced in width toward the opposite end of saidfaceplate, a pivot b.olt disposed through the opposite lappedpairs ofcars and across in the longitudinal plane of the strapway between, astudtongue disposed at the longitudinal center toward the hinged end ofthe back-plate to project across the strapway into the correspondingperforation in the face-plate, a stud-tongue disposed at thelongitudinal center toward the opposite end of the back-plate to.project across the strapway, through the corresponding perforation inthe face-plate and notched in its projecting end, and a suitable lookingmechanism mounted on the face-plate to releasably engage the notched endof said stud-tongue to fasten the opposed swinging plates closedtogether.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD BAXTER CARTER. Vit-nesses F. W'. KENNY, Sr., GEO. B. VELLSEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

